Communicated Content – In September 2022, it was announced that a new television show dedicated to Collegiate Esports Now was set to launch on the linear Esports channel ESTV, and the first-ever episode was eventually aired on Friday, October 7th, 2022. The two main hosts of the show are popular Esports personalities Pauly ‘Hype’ Santoro and Katie Scott.
Linear Esports refers to a video game that focuses on a player being guided through a predetermined path with a similar style of gameplay. Examples of these games that many of you will already be familiar with by now include single-player campaigns in Battlefield, as well as Dead Space, the Uncharted Series, and Call of Duty.
Esports fans were also able to watch the action as it unfolded on the popular video game streaming site Twitch. Although there isn’t yet an official YouTube channel, you can also watch some of the footage from the show on certain YouTube channels. Let’s take a closer look at Collegiate Esports right here.
What is Collegiate Esports?
Collegiate Esports, or college sports, is a term that refers to national and international Esports competitions that are officially supported as a full-time career by providers of tertiary education at institutions such as colleges and universities. The term College Esports was, in fact, first coined more than ten years ago (in 2009), and since then, the Esports scene in North America and around the world has witnessed incredible growth and expansion.
In 2016, The National Association of Collegiate Esports League – a North American collegiate esports association, was founded by Michael Brooks. The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a non-profit organization that regulates student athletics at around 1,100 schools across the United States, and also in Canada, and Puerto Rico. However, the NCAA does not view Esports as an actual sport.
College Esports courses are offered to people who have a genuine interest in the competitive computer gaming industry, and it doesn’t just include taking part in competitions and learning the necessary skills to play MMO RPG games, shooter games, RPG games, strategy games, or any other video games. The courses also encompass how video games are made from start to finish, how tournaments and leagues are set up and run, the marketing of such events, legal aspects, and various other sports science issues that directly relate to the Esports gaming industry.
A closer look at Collegiate Esports Now
The five major companies that have joined forces to launch the new Collegiate Esports Now TV show included:
- NACL (North American Collegiate League)
- NECC (National Esports Collegiate Conference)
- CSMG (Collegiate Sports Management Group)
- EsportsU (Collegiate Sports Management Group)
- ESTV (Esports TV) – the world’s first live, linear, and AVOD eSports channel that provides 24-hour coverage, seven days per week
The College Esports Now TV show will continue to cover the latest news, stories, and updates from the world of college Esports in the United States, and it will regularly be watched by millions of people, not only in the US but also around the world thanks to popular streaming site Twitch. As well as discussing the latest developments from college Esports in the US, the show will also discuss the various Esports programs and courses that are currently being offered by participating educational institutions. It will also reveal the interesting backstories of individual players from the various Esports teams and much more.
A look at some of the biggest Esports leagues in the world
There are currently numerous Esports leagues around the world, and the industry is now said to be worth more than $1 billion. Revenue is generated via sponsorship deals and advertising, and the winners of the leagues and tournaments compete to win huge cash prizes, ranking points, and silverware. It’s also now possible for people to place a wager on most of these official Esports leagues at a growing number of fully licensed sports betting websites.
Some of the main Esports leagues and tournaments around the world today include the following:
- The International
- The World Championship
- The EU League
- The Overwatch League (also known as OWL)
- The Call of Duty League
- The Global Championship
There’s also the CCT North Europe Series, the WePlay Academy, the LPL Pro League, the Gamers Club Liga Serie A, the CCT South Europe Series, the CCT East Europe Series, the Intel Extreme Masters, the ESL Pro Championship, the Elisa Invitational, to name just a few.
The games that players get to compete in throughout some of these events tend to include hit titles, such as Call of Duty, Overwatch 2, League of Legends, Dota 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO), Rainbow 6, and PUBG. If you don’t have access to the College Esports Now TV show, don’t forget that you can also view the coverage on Twitch.
